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A review by shhchar
Rush by Lisa Patton
2.0
I really enjoyed reading this book, however, that still doesn't make me think it warranted more than a 2-star rating.
The beginning was promising: I like Patton's straightforward but playful writing style, the Ole Miss setting, and unique alternating POVs. Then it became more and more contrived, especially the narration of Miss Pearl and everything (shockingly) being tied in a pretty little unbelievable bow by the end. I wanted more grit out of it but instead felt like I was cringing 75% of the way in.
As noted in other reviews, when social issues came up there was often a contrast of first-person opinions represented between father Haynes and mother Wilda (both to the side character, Ellie) to which the former was more liberal/working for the underdog (he was described as a successful pro bono lawyer who somehow had a direct line to Eli Manning and his wife, who ironically, I was behind at a gluten-free bakery in NJ once) and Wilda would continually dismiss his as simply being a cute part of his personality to fight against inequality. Wilda often fell back on being an empty nester who didn't know what to do with herself, was simply a classic southern girl, and absolutely needed to get a job (spoiler: she doesn't.) I'm not even going to touch the character of Lilith because she's ridiculous.
For a book that seemed to solve racism in one chapter by having a white girl hang out with a black girl and get dinner once, it was very hard to get a pulse on what the book was trying to say overall. Our country's history is simply not one you can look at through rose-colored glasses: and that is the big issue I took with Rush. The ensuing author's note seems to shed a little bit of light onto Patton's inspiration to write this book, but it didn't do it for me. I would've appreciated more research and intersectional understanding and way less stereotyping.
The beginning was promising: I like Patton's straightforward but playful writing style, the Ole Miss setting, and unique alternating POVs. Then it became more and more contrived, especially the narration of Miss Pearl and everything (shockingly) being tied in a pretty little unbelievable bow by the end. I wanted more grit out of it but instead felt like I was cringing 75% of the way in.
As noted in other reviews, when social issues came up there was often a contrast of first-person opinions represented between father Haynes and mother Wilda (both to the side character, Ellie) to which the former was more liberal/working for the underdog (he was described as a successful pro bono lawyer who somehow had a direct line to Eli Manning and his wife, who ironically, I was behind at a gluten-free bakery in NJ once) and Wilda would continually dismiss his as simply being a cute part of his personality to fight against inequality. Wilda often fell back on being an empty nester who didn't know what to do with herself, was simply a classic southern girl, and absolutely needed to get a job (spoiler: she doesn't.) I'm not even going to touch the character of Lilith because she's ridiculous.
For a book that seemed to solve racism in one chapter by having a white girl hang out with a black girl and get dinner once, it was very hard to get a pulse on what the book was trying to say overall. Our country's history is simply not one you can look at through rose-colored glasses: and that is the big issue I took with Rush. The ensuing author's note seems to shed a little bit of light onto Patton's inspiration to write this book, but it didn't do it for me. I would've appreciated more research and intersectional understanding and way less stereotyping.